Short Summary

Britain's premier saloon car race, the Diners Club International Tourist Trophy, has been won by Belgian drivers Eddy Joosen and Raymond van Hove in a BMW.

Description

Britain's premier saloon car race, the Diners Club International Tourist Trophy, has been won by Belgian drivers Eddy Joosen and Raymond van Hove in a BMW. Held at Silverstone on Sunday (17 September), the 107-lap event counted towards the International European Touring Championship and attracted a large contingent of drivers from outside Britain.

SYNOPSIS: The event was to prove a comfortable win for Joosen and van Hove in car number two. But earlier, sporting pundits had expected the Continental attack to be led by the newly-crowned European Touring Car champion, Umberto Grano of Italy. Driving a BMW Italia CSL, he had won six of the ten events held before the Tourist Trophy. However, a mechanical defect, reportedly a broken rocker arm, put Grano and his British teammate Tom Walkinshaw out of the race.

Many other vehicles found the three-hour event hard going and several were forced into the pits - some for simple wheel-changes but others for more serious repairs.

Meanwhile the Belgian team of Joosen and van Hove continued to out-pace other competitors - including one of long distance racing's most successful drivers, Briam Redman of Britain, who was eventually forced out by a mechanical failure.

The Belgians took home the trophy after winning with a clear two-lap lead over their nearest competitors, Helmut Kelleners of Germany and Swiss team-mate Edy Brandenberger.